Tiger Tails
by WavesOfWisdom99
Summary: Nico knew babysitting was hard...he didn't realize that it could cause minor heart attacks. All rights to author.


**AN: Ello! So sorry for the long absence…(again)…been a tad busy…(again), but I'm back now! For those of you following my 'Brothers' series, first off, THANK YOU! And second, I have a Thalia and Annabeth one in the works…so that should be up sometime this week.**

 **Now this I actually wrote a while ago…it was inspired by a brilliant piece of fan art I saw online…really not sure who drew it, but it's this adorable picture of an older Nico holding a little girl with a tiger's tail and panicking on the phone to Hazel. Hope you like it!**

Nico's POV

Nico wasn't really sure when he became the universal babysitter. His friends all seemed to think that since his job allowed him to work from anywhere he could plug in a laptop (he wrote and edited horror movie scripts) and he had no kids of his own, he was perpetually free. They were right of course, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Of course he loved his nieces and nephews (a lot, actually), but babysitting was hard work, and it wasn't like anyone _paid_ him for his trouble. Percy promised him Sally's cookies and Jason gave him access to his Netflix, but Nico went over to Sally's house every other day _anyway_ and he had been mooching off of Jason's Netflix for _ages_ before he had permission.

But, this time, the call had come from his sister, and Nico couldn't say no to her. So, come Friday night, he was standing on the Zhang house's front porch, ready to take care of his niece while his sister and brother-in-law attended the wedding reception of Frank's second cousin.

Hazel opened the door, looking stunning in a dull gold dress and black earrings.

"Hey Haze," he greeted, as he gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek, "You look gorgeous."

She smiled, "Thanks Nico. Come on in. Frank's just getting ready and El is," she laughed as her daughter came racing down the hall, throwing herself at Nico's knees, "…right here apparently."

Nico laughed, pulling three-year-old Eliza into his arms, "Uh huh. I see that."

"Unca Nico! Momma and Daddy go out so we have lotsa fun! We eat cookies and ice cream and candy and popcorn and," she cheered, bouncing in Nico's grip.

"Yeah kiddo? I don't think I should put any more sugar in you."

Eliza pouted theatrically, making the children of Hades laugh.

"Tell you what," Nico stage whispered, "I'll let you have some if you don't tell your mom."

"Nico!" Hazel protested, hitting his arm, "You're corrupting my child!"

"Nah," he told her with a grin, "That's Leo's job."

Frank emerged from the bedroom then, tugging at his tie and looking just as scared as he had when he had told Nico that he wanted to marry Hazel.

"Hey Zhang," Nico greeted.

Frank nodded in response.

"He's freaking out. Half of his family doesn't know that we got married," Hazel explained, "The idea of introducing me to the other half of his family terrifies him."

Nico laughed, "Frank, calm down. You survived asking our dad for his daughter's hand. I think you can live through a few intros."

Frank smiled at him gratefully.

"And if it gets too rough, you can always grab a couple champagne bottles and hand Hazel the car keys."

Hazel hit him for that, and dragged Frank out, saying that they were going to be late, and blowing Nico and Eliza a kiss on her way out.

Nico locked the door behind them, and Eliza patted his cheek, "Unca Nico?"

"Yeah?"

"We watch movie?"

"Yeah, sure kiddo."

She insisted on Hercules, which had been a gag gift from Percy on her second birthday. Nico didn't have the heart to say no to his niece, which was why he was stuck with 94 minutes of pure, undiluted schist in animated form.

Part of him wondered if there wasn't a single demigod on Disney's executive board to veto stuff like this. Like, _please_ , Chiron this big, buff, centaur who loved hunting and had dreadlocks? His mortal cover story was that he was a _teacher_ for Zeus's sake! And Hades. His dad did _not_ spend all his time plotting against Zeus. He sided _with the_ Olympians (most of the time). And he most _definitely_ didn't have blue fire for hair. Nico was surprised that the makers of the movie hadn't been blasted into oblivion by some immortal or the other yet.

Despite the ridiculousness of the movie, Eliza loved it. She cuddled up happily against Nico and watched in rapt attention. Nico spent most of the movie watching his niece. She looked exactly how Nico imagined Hazel would've looked at that age, right down to the cinnamon curls. She had Frank's eyes though, the only part of her that didn't look copy pasted from Hazel.

He got up halfway through the movie, partly to get more popcorn, partly to escape the corny dialogues and cheesy music. When he came back, bowl full of popcorn, and soul full of martyred endurance, he nearly had a heart attack. Eliza was still curled up on the couch, just as e had left her, only now, she had sprouted a tail. A tiger tail.

He narrowly avoided dropping the bowl in his hands as he set it down on the coffee table, and grabbed his cell phone. Hazel answered on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hazel! My niece just grew a tail!"

Hazel laughed, "Again?"

"What should I…wait, again? What do you mean, _again?_ "

Hazel laughed again, though Nico was having trouble finding anything funny, "Yes, again. She seems to have inherited Frank's family gift. She started growing random animal parts recently."

Nico forced himself not to yell, since Eliza was looking at him curiously now, "Right. Frank's family gift. And it didn't occur to you to give me some kind of warning?"

"I'm sorry Nico," Hazel apologized, "It completely slipped my mind. Listen, I have to go, okay? We'll be home by 11:30. Call Will up and let him know you're spending the night. And, no, you're not allowed a say in this. I know Will's working a late shift at the hospital anyway. Love you!" And then she hung up.

Nico groaned and ran a hand over his eyes and through his hair.

"Unca Nico?" Eliza piped up. The tail was gone now, thank the gods.

"Yeah El?"

"I hungry."

"Alright," Nico shoved his phone into his pocket and picked her up, "Let's get some food into you."

15 minutes later, Eliza was eating her dinner, macaroni and cheese out of a box. Hazel would hate him, and if word got out, he'd be facing a four-way lecture about the evils of packaged food courtesy Hazel, Piper, Annabeth and Calypso. Annabeth might even throw in a PowerPoint presentation. But, Nico was a pathetic cook and this was as good as it got.

Nico stabbed some leftover pieces in the pot with a fork while dialing Will's number. He must have been in surgery or something, because it went to voicemail. Nico left a message, explaining that his sister was holding him hostage, that he would be home by 10 the following day, and that he would bring breakfast.

Eliza finished eating, and Nico finished washing the dishes (Hazel _so_ owed him). They ended up back on the couch, and Eliza wanted to watch Aladdin, so Nico got stuck with another round of singing animals and ridiculous plot lines. At least this one didn't murder his heritage.

About halfway through, his arm was dying because Eliza was completely on top of it. He glanced down, wanting to move her to a position that wouldn't end up with his arm becoming a dead weight, and saw that his niece was fast asleep.

Her head rested against his elbow and she was hugging his forearm. Her hands were closed in fists around his t-shirt. Nico smiled. Maybe this universal babysitter gig wasn't so bad.

 **AN: And there you go! Hope you liked it. Just for the record, I actually love Disney movies, including Hercules and Aladdin…but I doubt Nico would :P. Let me know what you think :***


End file.
